Now he runs a small art gallery that opened last year on the grounds of his sprawling residential compound, where he sells tourist crafts and dotes over his orchids.

The man, Khin Nyunt, smiled at his former captive. He was smaller than Than Htay had imagined.

"I walked over to him and said, 'Hello, uncle. We used to be enemies'," Than Htay said, recalling the moment several months ago when he told the once all-powerful spymaster that he was among those jailed for dissent against the junta in the 1990s.

Khin Nyunt brushed aside that messy history and reached out to shake Than Htay's hand.

"What you speak of, that is in the past," he said. "It's nice to meet you."

It was a meeting that showed that Myanmar has come a long way, but still has further to go.

In 2011, the country's former military rulers ceded power to a government led by retired generals who surprised the world by embarking on an era of economic and political reform.

But no one responsible for half a century of human rights abuses under army rule has been held accountable, and some are trying to bury the past by remaking their images.

Khin Nyunt's transformation may be the most spectacular - he now portrays himself as a genteel humanitarian who spends quiet days meditating peacefully, cultivating flowers and fruit trees, and spending time with family and two huge guard dogs named Chit Chit and Chaw Chaw — "Lovely" and "Cutie".

"I'm not interested in politics anymore. That part of my life is over," he said in a recent interview as the soothing tones of a traditional Burmese bamboo xylophone filled his souvenir shop. "I'm now focused only on my family."

A protégé of former dictator Ne Win, Khin Nyunt ascended through the ranks of Myanmar's army to become one of the country's most powerful people. In 1988, he was a member of the junta that seized power after crushing a pro-democracy student movement. He eventually took over the country's intelligence apparatus, and spent years hunting down dissidents.

Among them was Than Htay, who was arrested in 1991 for funneling food and money to an anti-government militia. He spent five years in detention, where he said he was blindfolded, beaten with clubs, kicked and tortured with electric shocks.

Khin Nyunt became the junta's prime minister in 2003, but his career came to an abrupt end a year later amid a reported power struggle with junta chief Than Shwe. He was accused of corruption and placed under house arrest, and hundreds of his followers were jailed or purged.

Khin Nyunt said he was confined to his home for seven years and cut off from friends and relatives. He said his savings ran so low he was forced to sell orchids to survive.

In January 2012, he was freed in a general amnesty along with hundreds of political prisoners. But he said more than 20 of his associates are still detained.

The meetings he has had with former prisoners of conscience have been rare, and some have occurred by chance. One awkward moment was when he ran into Win Tin, an opposition party stalwart who spent 19 years in prison, at a funeral.

Than Htay's visit came as part of a field trip to Khin Nyunt's art gallery with about 20 students from World Learning's Institute for Political and Civic Engagement, a nonprofit group that provides pro-democracy education to civil society activists. Students asked Khin Nyunt questions about his past and future. He answered most obliquely.

"I felt pity for him, actually," Than Htay said. "He was smiling, trying to be nice to us. He was pretending to be somebody totally different than he was.

"When he was in power, everybody had to show him their respect. But now he seems so lonely ... he's powerless."

Khin Nyunt now spends much of his time reading, including material no longer banned.

"One thing I have come to realise is, this is all about change. Nothing is constant," he said. "Everything is in flux. Life changes. Things change. Human beings change."